The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Citrus plant, botanically of hybrid origin and known as Citrus ‘First Canadian’ and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘First Canadian’. The new cultivar represents a new dwarf lemon plant that is grown for use in homes under low light conditions.
The new cultivar was derived from an ongoing controlled breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, that commenced in 1981. The overall purpose of the breeding program is the creation of a new type of dwarf lemon trees and other hybrid Citrus trees that exhibit the fruit quality of commercial varieties that are also Low Light Tolerant [LLT] and can be grown in homes on indoor windowsills in small 6-inch containers with only natural available light.
The new cultivar arose from a cross made in April of 1991 between an unnamed and unpatented proprietary plant from the Inventor's breeding program designated as “CLX-1” (Citrus medica x Citrus limonia) as the female parent and Citrus x meyeri (unpatented) as the male parent. ‘First Canadian’ was selected as a single unique plant amongst the seedlings from the above cross in October 2010.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by stem cuttings in Saskatoon Canada, by the Inventor in October of 2010. Asexual propagation by stem cuttings has been determined that the characteristics of this cultivar are stable and are true to type in successive reproductions.